I’ve got dyspraxia so sometimes when I get too enthusiastic about what I’m reading or when I’m tired, my eyes go faster than the rest of me and I end up spoiling myself by reading the end of the page before the middle. So I’ve learned to hide the lines below the one I’m reading with my hand (like little kids). I don’t usually need to do it all the time, except maybe with mysteries, but I ended up reading almost this whole book with my hand hiding what was coming next. I got so invested in what Shaylie was feeling that I didn’t want to miss even one word. I even almost had to take a break when I was two thirds in, there were so many emotions.
The premise for this novel is a lot of people’s worst fear, a plane crash. Shaylie survives. Piper’s best friend doesn’t, and neither does her fiancée. When Shaylie and Piper first meet at a support group for survivors, then a second time by chance, they’re immediately drawn to each other but at first they don’t know whether they want to be friends helping each other to heal, or more. Bryant dealt with that beautifully.
Like other reviewers, I could have had a bit more on Shaylie’s PTSD but I get why the author would want to focus on the good that comes from the bad. As I wrote above, there were already so many feelings coming from that good, I didn’t feel like I was missing out. And though I knew there was a HEA coming, I nevertheless sometimes had doubt as to whether Shaylie and Piper would reach it. They had a lot of heavy stuff to deal with, and as meant as they were to be together, it could not be easy.
Definitely one of my favorite books so far this year.
Jude in the Stars 